Monday, April 25, 2011

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Last week we had a friend of ours, Nicole Rogers, take family pictures to help support her mission trip this summer. She really did an amazing job and somehow made it seem like our little Gigi was actually having fun. Gigi, in truth, was exhausted and hated the "sharp grass." These pictures will definatly bring back memories of a very funny experience. Thanks Nicole for being patient! I can't wait until Nellie can be part of the Scisciani fun!

I really feel like we are making some headway on all the paperwork involved! I am also feeling pretty organized. At first I found I was loosing track of where I was putting important papers as they were coming in. I bought a portable file and that has made all the difference (and it is super cute).

I find myself thinking of sweet Nellie all the time. My daughter carries her picture around with her and loves to point things out in the store that would be perfect for "the baby." We sent a care package to her last week, so I am hoping the Butterfly House will have it soon. It is hard to imagine that her sweet little hands will be picking up the stuffed animals we packed.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Well, we made the prayerful decision last night to give our daughter her name so that she can start hearing it at the Butterfly House. We have decided to name her AnelaYunJie. Anela means "Angel" in Hawaiian as this child is a miracle! "YunJie" is her given name which we use as her middle name. This way she can choose to use it later on if she would like. We will call her "Nell" or "Nellie" which I think suits her perfectly...I love to have a nickname! We will of course always refer to her as "our little Angel"!

I had to post the e-mail my husband wrote me today...warning...it is a tear jerker. I think his love and support of this sweet child has made me fall in love with him all over again!

Here it is...

Some other thoughts on adopting Anela and her potentially having special needs:

1)If someone would have looked at Charley’s or Georgia’s file, they would have seen some abnormalities or special needs. I couldn’t imagine reviewing their “files” before they were a part of our family and deciding not to take the risk of them having special needs or unknowns.

2)Did God review our “file” to see if we had any issues or risks before he adopted us into his Kingdom. What if God passed by every person’s file that wasn’t perfect, none of us would be saved. God didn’t wait till we were perfect, without flaws, or had no risks. We needed a Savior when we weren’t perfect so we could be saved by his grace and loved by him...just like these children need parents who will accept them and love them even with their flaws and risks. What an example of Christ!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

I never thought I would blog…I really didn’t think that I had too much to say that others would be interested in. Well, now I have my story.It is a story that the Lord has so perfectly laid out for us that I need to share it with anyone who will read it.Let me begin by saying that the Lord cares about details…every last one.I know this as I look back at how he has worked in the lives of my family. In hindsight I see why He has moved us around, as well as given and taken away.He wanted our eyes to be opened…he wanted us to experience His greatness and mercy.I am forever grateful to Him.

Well, our story is now starting a new chapter.I will take you a few months back…we attend a very large and wonderful church here in Charlotte, NC. Several of my friends and I felt that a church our size could really benefit from an orphan ministry as there are many who want to adopt, but get discouraged. We also wanted to help bring orphan awareness to our church knowing that it would be an amazing ministry. I led a couple chapels for the kids at our school on orphan awareness and how the Lord directs us to care for the orphan and widow (James1: 27). As I am teaching, I felt the Lord say to me..."now is your time." Both my husband and I knew that it was time to act because when the Lord says so, we do it!!!!!!!!!! Adoption had been on our heart for some time, but feeling that nudge from the Lord is what pushed us to act.

I started researching agencies and actually was almost ready to sign up with one. However, when I called to get the application sent to us, the woman in charge of international adoptions was on vacation. Well, that early afternoon, I literally ran into a woman at our YMCA who I had seen before at a soccer game with two beautiful girls. After her girls had been checked into childcare, I asked her politely if she had adopted. After she responded "yes" I immediately told her I was just starting the process. She was so excited at this point. She told me all about her experience with BAAS. She didn't want to discourage me from who we were going to use, but highly recommend Xiaoqing and BAAS. I believe the Lord always orchestrates everything, so I was ready to check them out. Well, at that point she pulls out her phone and shows me how many children were waiting on the list. The first picture she came to was sweet Angels. I know the Lord impressed upon my heart that she was the child that he had chosen for us. I could barely sleep that night. We started the application process as well as our homestudy right away. Soon after, we were able to review Angels file, which was a little uncertain. We are not fearful of any of her “special needs” or "uncertainties." We feel we are well educated on learning disabilities. My son is on the spectrum of autism...he was diagnosed at two. Since then, we have had him involved in all sorts of therapies (ABA, speech, and OT) knowing that early intervention really pays off. He has done beautifully...many would not even know that he was on the spectrum. Plus, we also know that if the Lord directs your path, He takes care of all the details. He gives us exactly the strength and hope that we need. Well, at this point, I was ready to act. But, again, I felt the Lord was telling me to wait on Him (it was like he wanted to show us it was His doing and not ours). It seemed there were so many people interested in her; it was hard for me not to act. Anyways, long story short, on church on Sunday evening our Pastor called a prayer meeting. He wanted all the Fathers to pray over their families and it was amazing. My husband prayed over all the kids (including our precious Angel) and our marriage...it was such a blessing. I cannot reiterate how important our prayer life is.Our Father in heaven longs to hear from us.He is a mighty, all-knowing, loving and compassionate Father.He answers prayer (not always the way we want, or when we want), but He always has our best intentions in mind!Plus, it creates a relationship! Anyway…that night when we got home I had an e-mail from Xiaoqing letting us know that no one had yet asked to freeze her file and if we would want to. Wow...I couldn't stop the tears! God is so good and I cannot wait to meet the child He has hand selected!